In a networked audiovisual transmission system, multimedia data packets being transmitted from a sender device, e.g., a server, to a receiving device, e.g., a client, can experience network congestion or other network impairments. As a result of the network congestion or impairments, the client or sender may employ rate adaptation or other forms of adaptive streaming. Existing methods have the sender actively involved in decision-making about such rate adaptation. For example, a Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) server may change the rate at which media is presented to the user, at the client in a client-server model, via the RTSP Scale header. If a value of Scale of 1.0 in the RTSP Scale header represents viewing the stream at normal viewing rate, then a scale value of one-half provides viewing the stream in slow motion, and a scale value of five provides for viewing the stream in a fast forward manner. Also for example, an RTSP server may change the media delivery rate from the server to the client via the RTSP Speed header. If a speed value of one, i.e., Speed=1, in the RTSP Speed header represents a one-for-one relationship between reception duration and playback duration (or more particularly, media delivery rate and media playback rate), then a speed value of two, i.e., Speed=2, has each second of client-received media requiring two seconds for playback for the user. In order to maintain media traffic within the bandwidth allotted, the server may also employ bit-rate adaptation.
An example of bit-rate adaptation on the server side is bit-stream switching where the server draws from a first stored media having one quality and then, when nearing allotted bandwidth saturation, switches to a second stored media having a second quality, where the second quality is lower than the first quality and accordingly requires less bit-rate. A server may also function to maintain the client's buffer in a healthy state via forms of buffer management. This type of buffer management is typically directed to the avoidance of buffer overflow or underflow. This type of buffer management is also typically directed to maintaining media play time present in a buffer in sufficient amounts to safeguard against temporary or longer term changes of bit-rate capacity available to the client-server in the streaming session. The buffered media play time in turn allows the server time to react to such changes before a buffer is exhausted. For example, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Packet-based Streaming Service provides the server with additional feedback and configuration information as to the buffer status. Accordingly, a server having such feedback may change media transmission rate as needed in concert with bit-rate adaptation, e.g., to lower the quality while increasing the speed to refill a nearly empty buffer.